Murata Manufacturing, the global MLCC leader, announced a mid- to long-term expansion plan: about JPY 1 trillion total investment over the five-year period from fiscal 2026 to fiscal 2030, focused on multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) capacity to meet surging demand for high-end passive components in AI servers and computing hardware, targeting doubling MLCC sales by fiscal 2030 versus fiscal 2025.
Of the JPY 1 trillion, JPY 350 billion goes to plant infrastructure, and JPY 650 billion to production equipment and process upgrades, covering Japan, Southeast Asia, and existing China bases. The Okayama, Japan base is the focus, with JPY 150 billion for new lines and a new plant gradually starting production around end-2028; overseas plants in Thailand and elsewhere will add lines.
AI servers are reshaping MLCC demand structure. Unlike consumer electronics needing general-purpose capacitors, AI computing mainboards and high-speed power links require high-end MLCCs with low equivalent series inductance and high stability. A single AI server carries far more capacitors than traditional servers, with strict voltage tolerance and temperature stability standards. President Norio Nakajima said data centers and optical communications infrastructure are in a sustained expansion cycle, with demand rising faster than expected and existing capacity plans unable to keep pace with cloud providers and chipmakers' orders.
This is not Murata's first server component push. Earlier this year it added JPY 80 billion specifically for server MLCC capacity. Murata aims not only at current AI servers but also to reserve capacity for edge AI devices, robots, and automotive intelligent hardware, linking component supply from computing infrastructure to terminal devices.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Kyocera are also expanding high-end MLCC. But high-end MLCC capacity is constrained by ceramic powder and tape casting equipment, creating a time lag in new capacity release. Murata, Taiyo Yuden, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics have issued price increase letters, with high-capacity MLCC prices for AI servers up 15%–35%. Shenzhen Securities believes the industry is locking in long-term supply, ASP increases are being validated, and consumer-grade order spillover is emerging—favoring continued high-end price hikes and domestic vendors benefiting from order spillover and localization.
ICgoodFind Summary: Murata's five-year JPY 1 trillion plan responds to AI servers changing high-end MLCC demand—larger volumes, stricter specs, longer lead times. The Okayama plant won't ramp until end-2028, and high-end MLCC capacity constraints from ceramic powder and tape casting equipment mean the tight supply-demand balance and price upcycle will persist, keeping the order spillover and substitution window open for domestic vendors.
